The government has warned that "it is in everybody's interest" to turn the UK's high levels of obesity around.
The government's health secretary, Alan Johnson, has claimed that the scale of the so-called obesity epidemic in the UK is a crisis on a par with climate change and quick action should be taken to try to reverse soaring obesity rates.
The comments come as a government study is set to reveal that half of the population could become obese within the next 25 years when it is published this week.
Mr Johnson has advised that Britons should take their health into their own hands to trigger a "cultural and societal shift" towards a healthier way of life.
He said: "There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by government action alone."
"We will only succeed if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed at every level and every part of society," he added.
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